


Of Research and Planning

by Ptl4ever419



Series: Story Haven [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Discussion of Abortion, F/M, Female Harry, Female Harry Potter, Pregnancy, Teen Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2020-07-09 17:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19891828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ptl4ever419/pseuds/Ptl4ever419
Summary: Cassia Potter was worried. If her suspicions were correct then her life was about to get a lot more difficult.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thought this up while I was doing new employee training for my internship this summer. Have thoughts on how to expand it, but not sure if I'll have time to get to it. Enjoy!

Chapter One: Of Research and Planning

Cassia left the Great Hall almost as soon as she entered; the smell coming from the hall was just unbearable. This was the third morning in a row this had happened; it was time to face facts…

***~~~***

After classes ended for the day Cassia headed to the library. She asked Madam Pince where she would find the books on healing and then headed in that direction. She took a number of books from the shelves in that section and then found a secluded section in the back of the library. Setting her bag down on the table along with the books, she took a deep breath, sat down and took out blank parchment and her quill set from her bag. She picked up the first book from the top of the pile and skimmed through the index. Finding a pertinent entry she turned to that page and then began taking notes on the spells listen on the page. She repeated the same steps with all the books she had taken, some being more useful than others.

As she took notes her thoughts drifted. What would she do if her suspicions proved correct? Voldemort was back; no matter what the Ministry was saying. Fred’s face swam in her mind. What would he think? As she finished up with the research she returned the books to the reshelving cart, packed up, and left the library.

Cassia headed up the stairs and found an empty classroom. After locking the door with a quick Colloportus, she set her bag down on one of the many tables and removed the notes she had just taken. After practicing the wand movement and pronunciation a few times she pointed her wand at her stomach and performed the first spell.

‘Fuck,’ was her first thought once she saw the result. Her suspicions were correct. She practiced and then cast the rest of the spells on her list to gather more information. 

She left the empty classroom after packing up her bag. Cassia wandered around in a daze for almost an hour before her feet carried her to the Gryffindor common room, and then further still up the boy’s staircase and into the Seventh Year dormitory. She distractedly removed her shoes, outrobe and tie, then curled up on Fred’s bed.

‘What am I going to do?’ Cassia thought, ‘Do I tell him? Can I? Do I...we tell other people? Could we stay together if I don’t? Will I be able to hide it? I have to, Voldemort is too dangerous to give him this leverage over me.’ Cassia lay on the bed thoughts racing for a good half hour before the door opened.

Fred, George, and Lee entered the room with laughter but exchanged wary glances when the say the picture Cassia presented. Curled into a ball with her back facing the door, her robe, tie, and shoes haphazardly scattered near the bed when normally they would be meticulously folded and orderly. The boys patted Fred on the shoulder before heading back down to the common room.

Fred walked over to his bed, took off his shoes, outer robe, belt, and tie, and put them away as he always did, righting Cassia’s clothing as well. He gently touched Cassia’s back to let her know he was there and curled up around her. After lying in silence for at least fifteen minutes he spoke, “Want to talk about it?”

Cassia contemplated saying no, but in the end, she and Fred had been through too much together and he meant too much to her for her to not tell him. “I’m pregnant,” finally letting the word be voiced even in her head. The reality of what it all meant hitting her as she said it; clutching Fred’s arm tighter to her.

He didn’t ask if she was sure; he knew all about her meticulous nature. “Well, fuck,” he finally responded when it sunk in after a few moments.

Cassia chuckled wetly, “That was my first thought, as well.” Fred pulled her closer to him.

“Do you have a plan yet, chickadee?” He was asking seriously, but also trying to cheer her up with the question he had asked her many a time before. He rubbed his thumb against her hip bone as she gathered herself.

“We can’t let anyone know”, she practically whispered what she had realized almost as soon as she confirmed her suspicions. 

She could feel his arms tighten around her slightly and held her breath waiting for him to respond. “George?”, was the only question that came from him. She relaxed, of course, he would understand.

“He’ll be the only one though,” she gripped him tighter, hating that they would have to hide this from their friends and family. “Not Lee, not Hermione, not Ron, not the girls,” listing off everyone they were close too, “not your family, not even Madam Pomfrey, no one. It’s too risky.” She twisted in his arms to face him, “You know why right,” her eyes begging him to understand.

“Yeah, babe, I do and I completely agree,” Fred stared at her earnestly. “And I hope you know that I’m in this with you no matter what.” A choked sob escaped her lips before she tugged him into a bruising kiss, tears running from her eyes. Fred pulled her closer as one hand drifted into her hair to cradle her head.

As they broke the kiss Cassia began to sketch out her plan. “I’m due near the end of July,” she chuckled dryly as he gave her an incredulous look; her birthday was the end of July. “I know, kind of ironic, isn’t? But, this means that we’ll be out of Hogwarts by the time I’m about to pop and you’ll be able there and I’ll have some time to be with the baby,” her voice hung on the word. Fred understood, they had talked about children before. They never expected to have them this early, but he knew Cassia would be excited nonetheless as she wanted children since she understood the Dursley’s would never love her and she would finally be able to have a family that loved her. They stared at each other in wonder for a bit, before Fred decided they needed to get back on track and poked her side lightly. Cassia gave him a playful glare before getting back on track. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to leave them when I have to go back to school, but it’d be too suspicious if I didn’t come back.” Cassia gave him a miserable look, he knew it was going to be incredibly hard for her to leave their baby, but he also knew that it would be the best way to protect them, carry on as if they didn’t exist.

Fred picked up when she seemed to hesitate, no doubt not wanting to be a burden, “When you go back, they’ll be in great hands; their Uncle George and their Daddy will be taking great care of them.” She beamed up at him.

“Do you know how I’ll be able to hide me getting bigger, if we can't, I have no idea what we’ll do?” She worried her lower lip with her teeth, normally he’d think she was trying to tease him, but knew she was worried right now, so many things relied on them being able to successfully hide her pregnancy from the world.

Fred looked contemplative for a few minutes, “I know that witches have often hidden their pregnancies, especially the more traditional types, and during the war, I think even Mum did.” Cassia looked surprised, but she supposed it made sense in a way. Seeing her look Fred went on to explain a bit more, “The traditional types almost always do so, less of a chance of disappointing the wider family with lack of an heir due to miscarriage. While during the war, Voldemort targeted pregnant women on the wrong side almost from the beginning, punishment for diluting pureblood most thought. But, that means there should be books on how witches went about doing so in your Family Vault, or clothing if that’s how it works.” He kind of looked confused near the end.

Cassia, however, looked resolute and yet also scared, “We’ll be able to do this right? We can protect our baby?” 

Tears started running from her eyes, Fred wiped them away as he said, “Yes, chickadee, we will. No matter what it takes.” Cassia broke down in his arms then, he pulled her in close letting her bury her head in his shoulder. He didn’t shush her or try to offer platitudes, he just held her, and if a few tears fell from his eyes into her massively curly hair, well no one was there to see.


	2. Brotherly Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George checks on the love birds expecting to have to break up some loving before he and Lee could come back only to get some unexpected news.
> 
> Or
> 
> Cassia is confused by wizarding terms for the thousandth time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot I had this on my drive and with all this craziness may soon have some time to update some of my stories. As always no promises though. Hope you all are able to stay safe. Please reach out if you want someone to talk to!

Fred and Cassia were joined by George a few hours after he and Lee had left. A hesitant knock on the door announced his arrival, “Is it safe to come in?” he called out in a joking tone.

“Come on in, George,” Cassia answered. She and Fred were still cuddled up on his bed, both their eyes were slightly red and puffy. The hesitant smile on George’s face fell when he noticed this.

“Okay, who do I have to kill?” was the only thing George could think to say. Cassia let out a wet little giggle and Fred shot him a thankful look. Cassia and Fred shared a look, having one of those silent conversations that only people who have known each other intimately can have, after half a minute Cassia nodded. 

Fred took a deep breath, “We have something we need to tell you, George, and you can’t tell anyone else. If  _ his _ side knows Cassia is deader than she already is, so is our family.” George looked terrified, but his face was serious and he looked ready to fight whatever he needed to in order to keep his family safe. “We’re going to have a baby,” George’s jaw dropped, “Cassia’s pregnant.”

George was silent for almost a minute while his mouth tried to catch up to his brain. Cassia and Fred's faces grew more and more drawn the longer he was silent. “Georgie?” Cassia’s quiet voice broke the silence.

“Holy shit!” George finally exclaimed, his eyes wide and his whole body reading shock. He stumbled over to his bed and fell onto his back. “What are we gonna do?”

“We?” Cassia questioned, she sent a quizzical look at Fred, but he had a slight smile on his face.

“Yes, we, Beansprout. That baby in there,” he waved a hand at her, “is my nibbling. Well, child really as Fred is my twin. Oh Merlin, I’m gonna be a father,” he had a terrified look on his face at the realization. “Angelina is going to kill me. Merlin, Fred, I need to write a will.” Cassia and Fred exchanged amused looks when it seemed like George would continue to worry ramble.

“You’re not gonna be a father, George, and Angelina is not going to kill you,” Fred’s voice had traces of both amusement and frustration in it. “Do you understand what I mean about not being able to tell anyone, George?” Calling him George, not Gred again really made it hit home just how serious Fred was. 

George’s face turned serious. “You know I do, Fred. Whatever I can do to help, I’m here.” 

“Thank you, George, it means a lot,” Cassia replied in a slightly watery tone. 

George’s serious face turned playful, “So, when will my little nibbling be here?”

This was the second time Cassia had heard him say nibbling, “Your what?” The confusion showing on her face. 

It was George’s turn to look confused, “My nibbling, you know, my niece or nephew?” His voice made it sound like a question. “What do muggles call it?”

Cassia still looked confused, she spoke really slowly as she said, “Their niece or nephew...” she exchanged a look with Fred as if to ask,  _ Is he concussed? What is he going on about?  _ But Fred was just as confused as George over Cassia’s apparent ignorance.

“In the wixen world, expecting parents don’t reveal the gender of the baby until the naming ceremony which is about a week after the baby is born, so nibbling is the gender-neutral form of niece or nephew,” Fred explained to Cassia. It made sense as surprisingly for a culture that was so against new blood it was incredibly progressive about gender roles and sexual orientations. She’d been surprised when Professor Babbling had mentioned her wife in passing during Runes and no one had batted an eyelash.

“Do the parents know the gender sooner? In the muggle world, they have ways of determining sex as early as 20 weeks.” Cassia was curious about the culture that had been denied to her as a child, a culture she would have grown up in if things hadn’t happened how they did.

The conversation about the differences between muggle and wixen pregnancies continued for a bit before George remembered that he’d go tell Lee when the coast was clear. After getting hexed by Fred for walking in on Cassia and Fred having sex once, Lee had vowed to never chance it again. Fred and Cassia said their goodnights while George went to go retrieve Lee.

  
Cassia wandered down the boy’s stairs, up the girl’s, and into her dorm room distracted. Hermione accosted her when she reached the room they shared with the other 5th year girls and pulled Cassia towards Hermione’s bed. When the girls had reached it and sat down upon, Hermione started her gentle interrogation. “Is everything alright between you and Fred? Pavarti said you wandered up to his room in a daze earlier and Nevile saw you wandering the castle like that earlier. I’m worried, Cassia. You know you can tell me anything.” Hermione’s face was earnest and open, inside Cassia’s heart broke. For the same reason, it wasn’t safe to tell Lee, it wasn’t safe to tell Hermione.  _ Please forgive me _ , Cassia thought as she explained that everything was fine between, she’d just been having really bad cramps all day and was distracted because she was worried about Sirius being cooped up in that old house.  _ Oh, fuck! Sirius…  _ she had forgotten all about him when trying to plan things out today. He might just kill Fred if he found out and try and ground her until the war was over while he was at it.  _ Just one more thing to worry about tomorrow,  _ she thought as she got ready for bed.


End file.
